This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Along one edge of your screen (either the bottom, left, or right) is a colorful
banner of icons known as the Dock. The Dock, shown in its default state in Figure
3.1, acts as a taskbar, to show open applications and minimized or reduced
versions of a document window. It also offers quick access to favorite applications,
shows feedback from open applications, and provides a resting place for the
Trash.

Remember: To minimize a document, you can click the yellow
(center) button at the top left of each window, or simply double-click the
window's title bar.

TrashAt the extreme right (or bottom) is the Trash, the place to
drag files that you want to throw away.

NOTE

You can also drag URLs into the right (or bottom) side of
the Dock. A single click launches your default Web browser and opens it
to the saved address.

Separator barThe separator bar splits the Dock into the application
and file/folder areas.

NOTE

To make the icons in the Dock larger or smaller, click the
separator bar and then move the mouse up to increase the size or down to
reduce it if positioned horizontally, or move it left and right if your
Dock is positioned vertically.

Applications and the Dock

The left (or top) portion of the Dock contains all docked and currently
running applications.

To launch an application whose icon is in the Dock, just click its icon once,
and the Dock takes it from there. When you launch an application that isn't
in the Dock, its icon will appear in the Dock.

As the application launches, you'll see the icon bounce. When opened,
a small triangle appears next to its icon to show that it is runningas
you can see with the first icon on the left in Figure
3.1. When you quit or close the application, the triangle disappears. (For
applications that haven't been set to remain in the Dock, the icon also
disappears from the Dock.)

To switch between active applications, just click the icon in the Dock that
you want to become the active application. You can also switch between open
applications by holding down Command-Tab. This moves you through active
applications in the Dock in the order in which they appear. When you reach the
item you want to bring to the front, release the keys to select it.

NOTE

Dropping is a shortcut for opening document files in a specific application.
To drop a file, you can drag and drop the document icon on top of the icon of
the application you want it to open in. In Mac OS X, you can use the
application's Dock icon instead of having to locate the real application
file on your hard drive.

Also, to force a docked application to accept a dropped document that it
doesn't recognize, hold down Command-Option when holding the document over
the application icon. The application icon is immediately highlighted, enabling
you to perform your drag-and-drop action. (Keep in mind, however, that many
applications can only work with files in certain formatsforcing an
application to open something it doesn't have the capacity to read
won't get you very far!)

Adding and Removing Docked Applications

You can add applications to the left side (or top) of the Dock to create a
quick launching point, no matter where the software is located on your hard
drive. Dragging an application icon to the Dock adds it to that location in the
Dock.

NOTE

When the Dock expands to the full width of the screen, it'll
automatically get smaller as you open more applications or add more icons
to it.

To make an open application a permanent member of the Dock, simply do the
following:

Locate the application's icon appears in the Dock. (If it's not
in the Dock, the application isn't open!)

Choose the option Keep in Dock. (If the application already has a place
in the Dock, you won't be given this option.)

After you've placed an application on the Dock, you can launch it by
single- clicking the icon.

NOTE

Moving an icon to the Dock doesn't change the location
of the original file or folder. The Dock icon is merely an alias to the real
file. Unfortunately, if a docked application has been moved, the Dock can
no longer launch that application.

To remove an application's icon from the Dock, make sure that the
application isn't running and drag it out of the Dock. It will disappear in
a puff of smoke (try it and see).

Getting Information from the Dock

In addition to providing easy access to commonly used applications, the Dock
also gives you feedback about the functioning of applications through their
icons.

The icon of an application that's opening will bounce in the Dock
(unless configured not to) and continues bouncing until the software is ready.
Also, if an open application needs to get your attention, its icon bounces
intermittently until you interact with it.

The Dock also signals which applications are running by displaying a small
triangle, or arrow, next to those application icons. This is a good way to see
which applications are open, even if you've hidden them or closed all their
windows.

Besides telling you which applications are open, icons can also offer quick
access to documents open in them. For example, when you have multiple Finder
windows open, you can view a list of those windows by clicking and holding on
the Finder icon in the Dock. From the list shown in Figure
3.3, you can easily choose the one you want.

Figure
3.3 Click and hold on the Dock icon of an open application for a list of
open windows.

TIP

Some applications, such as System Preferences and Sherlock,
take "Dock menuing" even further. If they are open, you can choose
from among all their sections, whether those sections are open or not, by
click-holding on their icons in the Dock.

Some applications even have customized Dock's icons to display information
about events occurring in the application itself. For example, the Mail program
displays the number of unread email messages in a red seal displayed in the
Mail icon in the Dock, as shown in Figure
3.4. (We'll cover Mail in detail in Chapter 15, "Using Mail.")